Court notice to police over rescued sex worker

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court Wednesday took a suo moto cognizance of a media report on the failure of police for not registering an FIR on the charge of gang-rape after a teenaged girl was rescued from a brothel and issued notice to the government and police.

A division bench of Chief Justice D. Murugesan and Justice Jayant Nath sought the reply of police and the city government by July 10. The magistrate before whom the girl was presented May 11 had filed a plea in the court.

After reading a news report of a national daily which said that police had even allowed alleged culprits, abductors and brothel owners to intimidate the victim during her court presence, the court sought the magistrate`s report

"Girls who are rescued from the brothel could not reveal the truth to the court as they (brothel owners, abductors) were present in the court...In this case they even threatened the girl sitting in the court room to bring her back into the business," the bench said and appointed advocate Zubeda Begam to assist it in the case.

"Police even did not file the FIR (first information report) on the charge of the gang-rape...We want guidelines in this regards...," said the bench, which sought a report from the magistrate before whom the girl was presented.

As per the media report, a 19-year-old girl was rescued May 9 by police from a brothel at G.B. Road in central Delhi and police did not deem it fit to register a gang-rape case.

"Rather, it allowed her rapists, abductors and brothel owners to intimidate her during her court presence. And while her father has come from South 24 Parganas district of West Bengal to take his youngest daughter back, she was sent to Nari Niketan instead," the report said.